SR-71 Blackbird: The Secret Vigil

Aviation Week Video, Vol. 4, Number 2

(McGraw-Hill, 1989)

Running Time: 1 Hour

SR-71 Blackbird: The Secret Vigil

“The best way to describe the feeling of flying it were times of boredom, interspersed with moments of stark terror.” 

—Lt. Colonel Gene Quist

SR-71 Reconnaissance Systems Officer

Few aircraft have attracted more attention than the ominous black supersonic jet that for years has ranged the world on secret reconnaissance missions. Now Aviation Week Video presents the definitive tribute to this extraordinary peacekeeper.

… The History. From the early beginnings of surveillance aircraft, the U-2, and the one-man A-12.

… The Technology. The unprecedented design requirements of an aircraft having a cruising speed of Mach 3 at an altitude of over 80,000 feet. Finding a composite that was good for eight hundred degrees… a fuel that wouldn’t boil… an ejection seat that would work at 100,000 feet. And a remarkable camera that could deliver images so clear you could count shoelaces.

… The Missions. Operations over and around the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, North Korea, Nicaragua, the Middle East, and Vietnam.

… The Pilots. First-hand recollections of war-time missions and the 12,000 mile long flights, five aerial refuelings the crews had to perform to get same-day information to the White House.

And compelling, gripping footage of the Blackbird itself, on its “rocket ride” through the world’s airspace.

Cover Photo by Rale Tomsett

Inset: Courtesy of Lockheed Aeronautical Systems Co.

McGraw-Hill Aerospace and Defense Group

1221 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

(212) 512-3213

Produced by McGraw-Hill Productions

New York, New York

Copyright © 1989 McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Running Time: Approx. 1 hr.

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